So with the back issues not getting any better, I need to figure out how to make my shop less abusive to the back.

For one thing, the wall tool stacker just has to go away. My bench top tools are simply not going to work well for me… So my thinker is going into overtime, right or wrong. Here are the ideas so far…

#1. Grinder / sharpening station. This one is interesting. 90 % of its use has been lathe related. I need to build a storage bench for the lathe anyway and lose the flimsy metal legs, so why not include a sharpening station in the bench so I never have to move the grinder?

#2. Jointer, planer, spindle / drum sander, scroll saw. Let’s face it, okay the Rigid sander isn’t heavy enough to be a bother, yet, but I could benefit somehow by designing and building a flip top work bench that can rotate around to allow use of these tools, or the bench top. But I suspect that would make for a flimsy bench top which is bad… Keep thinking this one up.

#3. Even though it is massively incomplete. I am happy with the function I am getting out of the miter saw bench / storage cabinet rig with the mortiser. It all lines up as it should, it gives me lots of small tool and supply storage. Probably finish this up (complete the drawers and shelves) and call it good.

#4. Drill press. Seriously unhappy with my drill press. It sucks up space and offers no storage. I can design and build a storage cabinet that would park over the base of the DP leaving me with enough space above so the DP can be used like a bench top model, and the base swung out if / when I need a floor model.

#5. Wide table kit and table on table saw. Again not really as space efficient as I would like… This is going to have to be a long term idea, but create a base and wide table that uses half rails and encloses the router fully…

12 replies so far

Designing your shop to meet the needs of your health status is definitely reasonable, and has been done by many before you. The interesting ones are the wheel chair bound folks that still make some pretty big stuff.

I have an older friend, who currently lives in North Dakota near the family farm. He was just here last week visiting my former partner and I as well as three of his children. Interestingly, when he moved back to ND, he built a totally handicap certified one story home. As fate would have it, his wife then contracted Parkinsonism, and after a decade or so just passed away. But he needed that house for her. In the mean time, he had an ankle infection that heralded Type II diabetes. After the infection was gone, he had the ankle fused due to continued pain. In any case, he is glad he has the house he has.

The point of the story is that planning now for infirmity or disability is good in any case.

The only thought I have about your tool situation is about #2. Instead of having a vertical stacker, see if you can fit in a horizontal set of shelves. The shelf should sit a bit higher than the mobile stand you want to use. I could envision some simple methods of immobilizing the stand just in front of the tool you want to use. Then the tool can be slid onto the stand, and fixed in a number of ways, the simplest being quick clamps. Putting the tool back would involve very little effort. To minimize effort, you could even have a moveable ramp that the stand uses to match the height of the shelf.

When done, the mobile stand would fit under the shelf. One of the things to do is standardize a height for mobile stands, so that if you have multiple ones, they all could be backed, at least partly, under the horizontal shelf, saving floor space.

I have a standard height for most of my mobile stands in La Conner, the exception, being the chop saw. When I want to use the La Conner garage shop for anything other than the most trivial task, I move out the largest car, and then move the tools I want to use into the now empty space. Every day, when I am done, I put the shop back against the wall so that the car can come back in. It takes about 10 minutes to set up or take down, at most.

Whatever you decide to do, be sure to plan for standardization if possible, and the future as well.

The most likely avenue of update is actually something that I have been wanting to do for years.

Dedicated shop building behind the house.

My shop shares space with auto tools, as well as lawn and garden, bicycles, ladders, and BBQ grills.

I have authorization from the HOA, the City, and most importantly, my wife, I just need budget to get it done. But the idea is…

12×16 gambrel roof barn w/ 6’ sidewalls, and 7’ ceiling height. Added a “Vestibule” or bump out room of 6’ x 2’ to house the air compressor and dust collector. Intend to keep it in the same “air space” so my DC doesn’t vent heated or air conditioned air outside.

I have a sketchup plan somewhere wtih it drawn up. All the bench top tools are on rolling carts, against one wall, lumber storage overhead in the gambrel except sheet goods which will be brought in as needed, so nothing heavy to take up or down.. Keep my rolling tool chest with its mostly auto related tools in the garage.

Finish the miter saw bench and move it in there. Redesign the mortiser stand though. Same height, but the current one is 1/3 the depth of the miter saw bench to accomodate for the air compressor…

Anyway fine details notwithstanding, anything of any real weight (say over 20lbs) will have to be at or about waist height. And absolutely NOTHING stored down at floor level. I have to be able to grab a halde at least 12” off the floor (That last 12” kills me).

FWIW, I did get some shop time in last night, but it wasn’t woodworking. I was filling the lid of an ice chest cooler with expanding foam (they don’t insulate them from the factory, and I don’t care that it says it keeps ice for 4 days, that is a LIE!). I just didn’t want to give up on this particular cooler. It’s a roller that rolls like luggage and has big wheels so it goes accross sand pretty easy…

A dedicated shop would be nice, for sure. I have a space here in Anchorage dedicated to the shop, although the furnace/hot water heater encroach on one side. The only true dedicated shop I ever had was an 8’ x 6’ shed with a slant roof that I built in Tennessee. It had doors at either end so that I could manage long stock and get it onto my radial arm saw. I think the top had some translucent fiberglass corrugated stuff, so there was light in there, although I did have it electrified through an underground cable. It worked fine for my needs there, that were mostly DIY projects around the 22 acres of property.

I’ve priced it up previously. skid / pier and beam foundation would run me a little over $2K built, painted, insulated, and powered. HVAC for something that small would be via a ductless mini split for another $1K.

A bare bones kit of the same size uninsulated, unwired etc… would run me $3K at a minimum.

But the stick built would require a LOT of labor on my part that I am not sure I am up to though… But Like I said, I do have family that should be able to help… Kind of an Amish Barn raising / Texas Barbecue kind of thing…

I’m certain there are many things factoring into the design decisions made this far, but I’d suggest there has to be a way to get ceiling height closer to 8’ without adding significant cost. 2×4 studs are ‘precut’ for finished 8’ (and even 9’) walls, for example. Seven foot would be cave-like…

-- Don't anthropomorphize your handplanes. They hate it when you do that. -- OldTools Archive --

Here’s an unusual thought. It would probably cost a lot to do this, but could you build your shop inset into the ground to create a higher ceiling, which would remain at the same height above ground? You’d have to create a good drainage system around it among many other things, but it could be possible to create a shop with the height you need / want and stay within the City and HOA’s approval. Crazy thought, but anything to increase your ceiling height is worth a consideration. 6’ just seems so low.

I’m not sure I’m being all that clear on my description the style of shed I want to use first shop is a gambrel roof design which has a 13 foot Peak height and 6 foot sidewall Heights. The 2nd floor such as it would be or really Loft would give me depending on how I expect it in a 7 or 8 foot ceiling and a short span of a angled ceiling going from 8 foot to 6 foot Within the last foot or so by the side walls which is fine the way I have it designed out it would actually work well for me. I believe I could probably do a gambrel roof keeping the 13-foot ceiling and going with 8-foot sidewalls but that’s not the blueprint I have. I’m sure they are out there I just don’t happen to have that one